So I go out for a run today and I'm still being cautious about not overdoing it, not straining or spraining anything since I'm still not in the best shape yet.

Just starting out and about 5 minutes into a jog on a paved, rails to trails multi-use path, I see a woman ahead with a leashed black lab. They move from the left side of the trail to the right and I make eye contact with the lady about 10 seconds before I get near her. I move all the way to the left side of the trail and she remains on the right along with the dog.

Just as I get within leash distance of her (and she was violating the regulation because she obviously was using a leash much longer than the mandated 6 foot leash for the trail) the dog jumps out in front of me and before I could react I trip over the dog and go head first for the pavement.

Somehow I get my hands in front of me and I fall on them and slide along the pavement. I think I rolled as well. I now look up and the dog is right in my face. It's a nice dog, but I'm very angry to say the least.

I'll spare everyone the colorful language I hurled at this woman. But what really annoyed me, more than the dog jumping out from a longer leash than allowed, and this woman's inability to contain her animal (and she was not by any means petite) was the fact that she just said "I'm sorry". She didn't ask if I was OK, just said "I'm sorry" about 3 times as I hurled some choice words at her.

As I got up and started to jog away, she said sorry the last time and I turned around and said "Don't be sorry, get effin' SMART! I should sue you!". I'm pretty sure she'll be more careful next time.

I don't know how, but somehow I didn't even have any scrapes on me. My Gore-Tex suit was unscathed, and my hands were a little raw but not bleeding. That was my trick somehow on this Halloween.

You were lucky. I hate people that don't control their animals. most people here let their mutts roam the neighborhood free. One day I'm going to take a baseball bat to a dog owner. Maybe then they'll get the point.

You darn right I was lucky. I can't believe I didn't smash my face or break a hand or even a finger. Hell, I hardly got scraped at all. I just can't believe how fortunate I was.

Tomorrow I'm going to the police station. I'm going to inform them about all of the regulations being broken on that path when it comes to these considerate dog owners. I see joggers all the time jogging with unleashed dogs. Or they intentionally drop the leash and let the dog run free with the leash dragging, then when someone approaches they stop and grab the leash.

I'm going to tell the police that they have an untapped source of revenue on that trail in the form of tickets. Plus it's just a matter of time until someone gets seriously injured.

LOL. We have that here too. But we also have cops on mountain bikes as their job. That's what I'm going to suggest they use to patrol the trail for a while. Once these dog owners get busted and the news spreads, they'll stop crapping up the trail as well (literally which is yet another violation for not picking it up).

One of these days I'd like to visit Louisiana, and besides the usual, I'd like to see St. James Parish. That's were Perique pipe tobacco is grown, on a small plot of land. No other place on earth comes close to growing it like the real deal grown there. I have 1/2 pound of it just in case something ever happens (like flooding). That's enough for the rest of my life because you only use a pinch of the stuff added to your Virginia because it's so robust. The stuff is amazingly good. They ferment it like wine.

I have to say...at least you got an apology, even if she didn't ask about your injuries. Clearly you weren't hurt - at least from an observer's stand point. I have been in that situation more times than I care to count particularly on trails and I figure it is just part of sharing the road.

I am really, really sorry you got tripped up by the lab, but I suggest that you just chalk it up to experience and realize that not all dog walkers are as responsible as you are.